New Day or Same Ole' Song

Uncle Tom is a term I rarely use in a discussion around political issues. In many aspects I believe that people have the right to their own opinion even if I strongly disagree with their opinion. Many that have followed the blog over the last six or so months know that I engaged in an all out diatribe against Bill Cosby and the comments that have consistently come out of his mouth. At no point in the discussion around Bill Cosby did I ever allude to the fact that I thought he was an Uncle Tom. Uncle Tom is a term often used to describe an individual whose political views or allegiances are considered by their critics as detrimental to Black people as a group. I believe this term should be used with extreme discretion, and kept in reserve for times when it really needs to be used to describe an individual. This should be common practice so the community can know that when someone is labeled an Uncle Tom its serious matter.

Yesterday I witnessed one of the worst display of “Uncle Tommism” on a national political stage that I have seen in a long while. Not that there hasn’t been displays of Uncle Tom like behavior on a national level, in fact, it happens on a daily bases. What separated yesterday’s incident from the other Tomlike behavior, which comes along with politics, is the calculated, overt, and shameless display of “Tommism”. There are a couple candidates for the Uncle Tom Award of the Month. Our first nominee is Charlie Rangle, and our final candidate is Bob Johnson. Based on their Tom like behavior this week both of these gentlemen have been nominated for this award. The winner for the 2008 Uncle Tom of the month award goes to… Imagine a drum roll… Bob Johnson. Check the comments out for yourself http://hiphop.popcrunch.com/bob-johnson-barack-obama-slam-video/ .

Let me be clear from the jump, Johnson, and Rangle can endorse Hillary Clinton if they want, even if I don’t agree. The Clinton’s impact on the Black and Latino community has been significant, especially when we put into perspective the twelve years prior to Clinton’s election was pure hell for most Black and Latino people in this country. I don’t say this to over glorify the Clinton years, but to highlight why someone may feel some sense of loyalty to the Clinton camp regardless of how ridiculous it may seem. My beef with Johnson and crew stems from the personal attack against Obama, not their allegiance to the Clinton’s. At first glance this might not seem as dramatic as I am portraying it to be, but upon analyses it is. Let me do a little back ground information as a reference in order to properly display how the Clinton machine is waging a silent war against Obama based on his race not his politics.

The Clinton’s attack began with comments by Bill that portrayed Obama’s presidential candidacy as a “fairy tale”. Check the clip here http://youtube.com/watch?v=K1Ytbr-7VaE . I don’t want to get into the whole "code word" discussion, but white people use them all the time, and Bill has become a master at this practice. Terms like “urban” or “ghetto” are the most obvious code words for Black and Latino people. They also like to use comments like “he/she speaks/writes so well” as code for I am surprised that they are intelligent. It seems like the Clinton’s are pulling out there Tom’s of the month to interject the code language they like to use so much. Check out Charlie Rangel calling Obama “stupid” and “articulate” all at the same time here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHcd0QB2_9k .

Clinton knows very well when he uses the word “fairy tale” he is referring to the fact that you Negros must be living in a dream world if you think Obama has a shot at winning. This is a clear attempt to coheres the 50% Black voting populous that their vote in South Carolina will be better suited with a real candidate versus a “fairy tale” candidate. Visions of the Disney film Songs of the South, where Disney displays a “Happy Negro”, walking through the field singing and shuffling represents the language of a “fairy tale” that Bill Clinton decided to use. With all the controversy Disney caused with this type of imagery last year I am sure the Clinton machine knew exactly what they where doing when Bill referred to Obama candidacy as a fairy tale. Check the Disney clips here http://youtube.com/watch?v=LcxYwwIL5zQ&feature=related & http://youtube.com/watch?v=47ak4vjiNzw and commentary why Songs of the South was controversial here http://forum.gorillamask.net/archive/index.php/t-42125.html .

The second push inside of the Clinton attack came last week when Hillary Clinton made these comments. Check the clip here http://youtube.com/watch?v=v9LhWUsrJnM . Obama wasn’t mistaken when he said that Clinton was trying to down play the significance of Martin Luther King Jr., by passing some of the credit off to the lily white Texas boy President Lydon B. Johnson. Clinton gives credit to the same LBJ who is responsible for the creation of the “Projects” and clearly, based on his previous voting record, was most likely not in favor of the Civil Rights Act. Most people who are familiar with history would agree that the Civil Rights Act was passed because of the intense pressure the Civil Rights Movement lead by MLK (but really run by the women of the movement) put on the white power structure of America. The world was looking at the treatment of Black people in this country and the US government, lead by LBJ, had no choice but to sign the legislation. LBJ didn’t go looking for a Civil Rights Bill to sign into law. LBJ shouldn’t get any credit for being some sort of visionary based on the signing of the Civil Rights Act. In fact if you really look at the picture when the Civil Rights Act was signed MLK looks like he has a smirk on his face solidifying for me that he knew quite well that LBJ didn’t want to sign the Civil Rights Act. Check the picture here http://www.civics-online.org/library/formatted/images/civilrightsactphoto.html and judge for yourself.

The Clinton machine would like to try to make us believe that the Obama camp is trying to interject race into the campaign. But anyone who has been following Obama knows full well that he has not. In fact he has gone out of his way not to interject race. I personally disagreed with Obama’s strategy, but Obama made it clear from the jump that he wasn’t going that direction. So for Clinton to make this argument is crazy! What started this whole MLK discussion came as a consequence of the speech Obama gave after he won the Iowa Caucus. Check the speech here http://youtube.com/watch?v=cNZaq-YKCnE . After hearing the speech many people around America compared the speech to the MLK “I have a Dream” speech. This sent the Clinton machine into a frenzy double time: one because he won Iowa, and two they understood quite clearly that winning Iowa would give him a boost in New Hampshire and South Carolina. Especially in South Carolina, where the voting populous is 50% Black, and that population was looking for signs that voting for Obama wouldn't be a wasted vote.The Obama race attack didn’t move into full swing until after the New Hampshire primary because they understand they would need to throw some type of road block in a 50% Black voting populous. On a side note Obama won Iowa in a 95% white state, why would he need to play the race card in a 50% Black state? Logic says that Clinton if anybody will need to play the race card, in order to divide the Black vote in South Carolina. The Clinton camp is bringing out there biggest Tom’s to make this happen.

In short, if Johnson and others want to support Clinton at least inform us why in a way that doesn’t attack Obama. When they attack Obama, especially around issues of race, it looks like you are siding against your own people. Obama is a Black man, just like you!! In fact Obama is the perfect reflection of what Bill Cosby and the like stand for. Obama in many ways has embodied and stands in support of many of the issues that the “old” Black guard has raised. So while you are going around doing all you can to undermine Obama and his presidential election they are calling both of you boy in the background.

This week did show some promise of reform for Colin Powell, who for many years has been at odds end with many in the Black community. The root of Powell’s disconnect from many in the community stems from his decision not to run for president in 2000 and his decision to serve as Secretary of State in the Bush administration. Many believe that he sold himself out to the Bush administration. When the guilt of starting an unnecessary war got to heavy he decided to back out of the Bush administration. The Bush administration then went and got another “Happy Negro” to take his place, her name is Condoleezza Rice. Subsequent to Powell leaving the administration Powell has come to his senses and has gone on record in support of Obama, and didn’t say one negative thing about Hillary. Check out his comments here http://youtube.com/watch?v=E1MJJFI5HXA It is not surprising that the once the former Republican “Black Guy” says something positive about Obama, the powers that be inside of the Republican party make their own statements about Obama, calling him lazy. Check out Karl Rove’s comments here http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119992615845679531.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries in the Wall Street Journal. Lazy, has historically been another one of the infamous code words of the white power structure. Karl Rove, like Bill Clinton, knows this quite well the language he is using.

Back to Bob Johnson. Johnson has been on the fence as it relates to Black issues with me for a while. The programming over at BET has always been questionable, and the cancellation of BET Nightly News pretty much solidified BET's political position in my mind. I think that is clear that the Clinton’s are using certain Black figures to try and steer the Black vote the way they want it. I hope they don’t believe the we are “Stupid” enough to fall for their trap. In my family we have had very intense conversations about Hillary vs. Obama especially as it relates to the women in my family. My argument has always been that if you support Hillary because of her politics fine, but if you are supporting her because she is a woman you should re think your position. It is important for all people of color to remember that we were going to be born with melanin before our sex was determined. Consequently, when making a decision solely based on gender or race, your race must come first, it is the natural progression of life. I think the Clinton’s understand this concept quite well and will do anything to find a way to further divide the Black vote, in order to propell their intrest. Which is not the Black community. This can be dubbed as a new version of the Willie Lynch letter. The concept of dividing the Black community is as old as our existence in the Western world. We must stand united on this issue and be clear that we support our community, and that we will not fall victim to the tricks that the Clinton’s and others will try to use to manipulate our vote.

The next stage in the Clinton machine’s attack, which is nothing more than the liberal expression of the white power structure, will be to pit the Black and Latino vote against each other. There are mumbles of this already taking place, but as the western states begin to come into play you will see more of the Black vs. Latino conversation engaged by those who understand the Neo-Willie Lynch ideology. All of this is designed to marginalize us as a voting block, and perpetuate the status quo in both communities, which in many communities around America is the same community. BET, by way of Bob Johnson and crew, will contribute to this as well, but that is whole different topic that will be discussed latter.

IN conclusion, calling out the folks that engage in this behavior is essential to a liberated future. Obama being elected president may not contribute greatly to this liberated future, but it definitely won’t take anything out. In fact, Obama becoming president will open up some space for the conversation of liberation to breath. Anyone who stands in opposition to the space neccessary for a liberated future needs to be called out and BOB JOHNSON is my number one candidate for the week.

Marvo

PS
This may be old to some but many of you may not know about it. Two Black and Latino males where attacked by group of white males, the two men of color where the only charged in this clearly racist attack. The Black male was charged with a felony. Judge for your self. Check out the clip here http://youtube.com/watch?v=fvCl8-WwM8Q

PSS

I heard about an interesting story out in St. Petersburg Fl. Apparently there is a company named Boley that handles the housiong vouchers for the city of St. Pete. The company has decided to target the Black community, and evict a number of people from their homes for "non compliance". A sector of that group has specifically been targeted for there work with the Black community in St. Pete. Below you will find a clip of a young lady speaking about her experience and a clip from Chairman Omali Yeshitela the leader of the Uhuru Movement, which seems to be the direct target of Boley assult.

Clip of young lady explaining the situation

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hP7o2mA4I-M

Clip of Chairman Omali Yeshitela leader of the Uhuru Movement

#1
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2SiiSv71HYQ&feature=related

#2
http://youtube.com/watch?v=V5uuMuicUZA&feature=related

#3 Checkout what Chairman Omali has to say about Uncle Tom's!!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_Uds1EhIK7s&feature=related